Comments on: Encourage Art Skills with an End Roll of Newspaper (71/365)

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 21:16:31 +0000

When I was little, this bland roll of paper that apparently doesn’t photograph well was my second favorite thing to play with after my legos. We used it to draw on, make clothes with, tape up to TV trays and make forts with and eventually use the empty cardboard tube as a makeshift sword or wiffle ball bat.

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:57:31 +0000

Here is yet another terrible picture. You are trying to convince people of how much fun and creativity one can get out of a cheap end roll of newspaper, and yet the picture is totally boring — a beige roll of plain paper shot against a scratched beige wall and a dirty beige carpet. There were all kinds of possibilities for a photo for this article — photos of some of the projects you’ve done, or photos of kids having fun creating their artwork — but instead, Brittany portrayed it in the blandest way possible. If this is the best photo she could take for this subject, I don’t think she’s getting much out of this “internship.”

By: Carol

Carol — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:46:20 +0000

Hi, I would have liked to have seen some of the kids’ artwork in the photo for this post.

By: SLCCOM

SLCCOM — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 19:17:31 +0000

You can also get envelopes from printers if you ask for their misprints. Then you just put your own address label over the wrong label. This is great for non-profits.

By: nancy

nancy — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:00:54 +0000

This is a great idea. I did this with my grandchildren the week before Christmas. I used a roll of plain white shelf paper and rolled it out on the dining room table. I sat with them and colored too to give them ideas. They were occupied for a couple of hours. I used some to wrap gifts and some to keep as memories.

By: kc

kc — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:39:01 +0000

David, OK, strike “a roll” from the end of my sentence. Good catch.

By: David

David — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:23:21 +0000

A “denizen” was originally an inhabitant of a particular country or region, as distinct from a “foreigner” who lived outside the place; nowadays the word means “inhabitant” in the more general sense. “Vitreous” means “composed of glass”, and “accommodation” includes houses. “Lapidation” was originally used in the specific sense of a punishment by stoning to death, but in the general sense means the throwing of stones. The meaning of the sentence as a whole is left as an exercise for the reader.

By: MattJ

MattJ — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:21:20 +0000

Does Cut Media pay by the word?

Considering how many folks responded to complain about his verbosity, (and how many comment every time to complain about his writing generally) it would be humorous if they paid extra for every comment.

By: Mark Gavagan

Mark Gavagan — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:37:50 +0000

Terrific idea!

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:46:23 +0000

Wordy, circuitous, circumlocutory, diffuse, garrulous, logorrheic, long-winded, pleonastic, prolix, rambling, verbose, all which indicate the author must be being paid by the word.
#7 David, I like this! Not a clue what it means, but it has STYLE, “Simply put, denizens of vitreous accommodation should not engage in lapidation.”

By: David

David — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 07:56:34 +0000

To say that a roll can be bought for $2 a roll is to say only that a roll can be bought for $2. Simply put, denizens of vitreous accommodation should not engage in lapidation.

By: Steven

Steven — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 05:20:17 +0000

Clear, concise, complete. I’m with kc on this one. When there’s too many details, my mind says, “Blah, blah, blah…” and I skim most of the article, trying to grab the key points. A lot of the time, I’ll miss some important point and comment based on my comprehension of a quickly scanned article. There’s a time and place to paint a detailed picture. Fiction writing.

In writing where you’re trying to offer people practical advice, less is more. Get to the point. Not every article needs to be 1,000 words, especially when you can make your point in half.

That said, I think this is a great idea.

By: Nate Poodel

Nate Poodel — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:04:17 +0000

My grandmother has a roll of this very paper. My nieces and nephews refer to it as “Granny’s Giant Paper”. And, it has provided hours and hours of fun.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:25:08 +0000

Good luck finding a newspaper still in business!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:22:19 +0000

If you prefer cut paper, you can go to a mover and buy reams of the stuff for very little money.

By: kc

kc — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 22:14:39 +0000

The three (3!) paragraphs you devote to describing what an end roll is and how you bought one could be condensed as follows:

“A newspaper ‘end roll’ is a byproduct of the newspaper printing process, and can be bought for as little as $2 a roll.”

Does Cut Media pay by the word?

By: rebecca

rebecca — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:53:44 +0000

Another similar idea: I have contacted office supply stores and asked about purchasing damaged reams or entire boxes of printer paper. More often than not, if shipments get damaged in any way, dirty, water, crushed they are damadged out because no office wants to use the paper. So go in and offer them a few bucks for a ream, or 10$ for a whole box. Works great.